Is Your Life Joy-Full?

Have you ever asked yourself what brings you joy? I don’t just mean the big life altering experiences like landing the perfect job, finding mr/mrs right, or any of your BIG dreams you might have. I mean the little things in the day that make you smile as your smile is a sign of joy. It’s certainly easy to find joy in life when things are working out exactly as you had hoped. The weather is just where you want it to be. You are spending time with those you want to spend time with. Your health is good. Your job is fulfilling and life seems to be joy-full. It’s when we find joy in the little moments in life that creates the big moments of joy.

In a recent Positive Focus Tuesday Teachings phone call, we were talking about joy and what brings us joy in our lives. Melissa, the facilitator, mentioned writing down what brings you joy and I thought “How is it possible I’ve not done this before?” I mean, I’ve written down what I’m grateful for, what I desire in my life, and all sorts of things – I’m a writer for goodness sakes. But to write down what brings me joy?

So I did write my joy list and it was so much fun! Of course I wrote down my family and friends bring me joy as calling out each name would take up the entire page. I wrote how sailing and the water brings me great joy. I wrote how the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team brings me joy, well most of the time. I jotted down fireworks, sunrises, sunsets, the moon, starry nights, laughter, hugs and many other things that bring me joy. Focusing on what brings me joy and writing them all day was such a fun creative project. It was so fun it made me realize another thing I should include on my joy list…writing a list of what brings me joy.

So what does bring you joy? Write down your list and know that wherever you find yourself right now, from celebration to sorrow or somewhere in between, you can move forward with joy by:

Knowing what brings you joy. Create a list of what brings you joy from the smallest to biggest things. Put it somewhere you can refer to when you need a pick-me-up or even to review it from time to time to add new joyful things to the list.

Being gentle with yourself. Unless this is the first time you’ve read my weekly message, you’ve heard me say it MANY times, being a positive person, doesn’t mean life is perfect. It does mean you find beauty in the imperfection. You allow yourself time to process the challenges while knowing that your celebrations will even be brighter because of what you learned about yourself through the contrast.

Mostly my wish for you is to know that joy is just a thought a way when you have a joy-full list to look at to remind you to live boldly, love deeper, laugh longer, hug often and smile bigger.

Until next time, let joy lead the way.

PS – If you create your joy list, I would love to see it, so comment below.

Affirm:

I give and receive joy in everything I do.

Words to Live By:

“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.”

~ Greg Anderson

“Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.”

~ Karl Barth

“The walls we build around us to keep sadness out also keeps out the joy.”